Georgia AH 1213 bisti
This specimen was lot 938 in Stephen Album sale 50 (Santa Rosa, CA, September 2024), where it sold for $600. The catalog description[1] noted, "GEORGIA: Giorgi XII, 1798-1800, AE bisti, Tiflis (Tbilisi), AH1213, fish, floral ornament above and below // ruler's name in Georgian, mint and date in Persian below; minor porosity; unusually nice example, VF, RR. There are no bistis of Giorgi XII on CoinArchives, just three examples of the 1/2 bisti (2 puli)." In the late eighteenth century, the kingdom of Georgia, which had once ruled most of the Caucasus mountains, had splintered. Russia had little difficulty vacuuming up the little pieces and by 1813 had extinguished all trace of independence. Persia and Turkey also had claims over the region but were defeated in several wars. Bistis are also listed for Erekle II.
Recorded mintage: unknown.
Specification: 19.44 g, copper, this specimen 17.05 g.
Catalog reference: KM-65.
- Michael, Thomas, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1701-1800, 7th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2016.
- [1]Album, Stephen, Joseph Lang, Paul Montz, Michael Barry and Norman Douglas Nicol, Auction 50, featuring selections from the Dr. Robert A. Rosenfeld Collection, the Hakim Hamidi Collection, the Almer H. Orr III Collection and the Solar Collection, Santa Rosa, CA: Stephen Album Rare Coins, Inc., 2024.
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